Student Confidential Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Student Confidential Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 22, 2026

Richard Horian's "Student Confidential" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with Richard Horian; recent program with Lloyd Kaufman; audio commentary by by Richard Horian and filmmaker Nicholas McCarthy; documentary; vintage promotional materials; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Big dreams

Of all the films in Severin Films’ catalog, which gathers a wide range of notorious cult films, including several that a few decades ago could get those who owned a copy of them in some serious legal trouble on the other side of the Atlantic, Student Confidential is the strangest. This statement is not an exaggeration.

There are a couple of reasons why Student Confidential is in a category of its own. Here are the big three:

Student Confidential is the creation of a man whose obsession with cinema was legitimately unhealthy. That man is Richard Horian, who in 1987 wrote, directed, scored (and performed all music), edited, and produced Student Confidential. Horian also stepped in front of the camera to play the most important character in it. When Horian decided to do all of this work, his experience in the film industry was zero. Horian was a successful entrepreneur who had invented a vinyl record cleaner that sold very well at K-Mart stores across the nation, making him a million dollars, all of which he happily invested in Student Confidential.

While it was undoubtedly an enormously ambitious project in its creator’s head, Student Confidential was just another very small, very unpolished B-film. Unsurprisingly, it did not meet expectations and ruined Horian. (In a fascinating audio commentary presented on this two-disc set, Horian declares that “he paid the price”. However, this is a very modest description of the disastrous effects Student Confidential had on his finances and, at the time, mental health and life).

In front of the camera, Horian is joined by several unusual risk-takers. One of them is Marion Jackson, Michael Jackson’s older brother and founding member of The Jackson 5. Another is Eric Douglas, Michael Douglas’ late half-brother. Ronnee Blakly, who plays a crucial character in Walter Hill’s best film, The Driver, is present. Susie Scott, former Playboy Playmate, is also there. The prolific John Milford, who appeared in numerous classic TV shows over the years, joins the cast as well.

While in the company of all of these risk-takers, Horian plays an eccentric millionaire stuck in a maddening marriage with an unbearably pretentious, seemingly perpetually unhappy trophy wife. To bring goodness and positivity back into his life, the millionaire steps out of his reality and takes a job at a failing high school, where he immediately sets out to reset the lives of four underprivileged, troubled students who are well on their way to self-destruction. However, while transforming them into rational young men and women and making other permanent changes in their lives, the millionaire is taught a painful lesson, too.

The narrative is a collage of underwritten, oddly acted, and unusually edited sequences that make Student Confidential one seriously unpredictable film. At the center of it are sizeable character transformations, each made possible with developments that constantly stretch Student Confidential in opposite directions. Some of these developments are funny, some are overly melodramatic, and some are irredeemably kitschy. As a result, the end product is a B film in which everyone appears to be under the influence of powerful drugs without having used any.

*Initially, Student Confidential was titled The Counselor. Severin Films presents the film with its original title. Also, a slightly shorted Director's Cut, which eliminates two sequences, is included.

Student Confidential Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Student Confidential arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films.

The release presents two versions of Student Confidential, Theatrical Version, which is slightly longer, and Director's Cut, which is slightly shorted because it omits two sequences. Both are fully restored in 4K. I viewed the Theatrical Version, which is also presented with the film's original title, The Counselor.

Despite some inconsistencies, the overall quality of the visuals is easy to describe as very good. However, it is even easier to declare that even when Student Confidential was completed, its overall appearance was not terribly impressive. Indeed, it conveys all limitations that are common on the smallest B films -- some lighting choices are questionable, while various indoor and nighttime footage could have been lensed significantly better. The inconsistencies give Student Confidential a low-budget, raw appearance that can be quite attractive, but also difficult to praise when compared to that of other genre films from the 1980s. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Color reproduction and balance are good. In a few sequences, select supporting nuances could have been slightly more prominent, but there are no troubling anomalies. Image stability is good. While not immaculate, the entire film looks healthy as well. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Student Confidential Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track easily reproduces the native strengths of the original soundtrack. However, it just as easily replicates all of its weaknesses as well. Dynamic intensity is extremely limited, even during busy sequences, like the one where one of the counselor's troublemakers causes an explosion. Clarity and sharpness are good. The upper register feels a tad brittle at times, but there are no serious anomalies to report in our review.

Student Confidential Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

DISC ONE

• Commentary - this audio commentary, available on the Theatrical Version only, was recorded by Richard Horian and filmmaker Nicholas McCarthy. I listened to it from start to finish with great interest because Horian is painfully honest about his obsession with Student Confidential and everything that went terribly wrong with it in the 1980s. Also, Horian shares plenty of curious information about the various people who joined him and their interactions before and during the production process.

• Richard Horian Revealed - in this exclusive new program, Richard Horian confesses that, in the 1980s, he believed he could make a film only by "sheer determination" and then explains in great detail how his dream collapsed. In the past, Horian had never been interviewed about his work. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• Acquired Tastes - in this program, Lloyd Kaufman discusses Troma's theatrical acquisitions during the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the fate of the "probably the only X-rated movie in history that lost money" (The Sugar Cookies). In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

• The Making of Student Confidential - in this program, several of the people who joined Richard Horian during the production of Student Confidential recall what it was like to be around him. Apparently, at the time, some of these people suspected that Horian had made his money while selling drugs in Miami. In English, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Trailer One - presented here is a theatrical trailer for Student Confidential. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is an original Troma trailer for Student Confidential. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• TV Spot - presented here is an original TV spot for Student Confidential. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Alternate Director's Cut - presented here is a new 4K restoration of a shorter Director's Cut of Student Confidential. This version of the film remove two sequences, which Richard Horian now sees as superfluous. (96 min).

DISC TWO

• The Vanity Project - presented here is a six-episode podcast about Richard Horian and the making of Student Confidential, featuring ambient video created By filmmakers Nicholas McCarthy, Graham Reznick and Zena Grey. In English, not subtitled. (35 min).

Student Confidential Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It takes a lot of courage to publicly admit that one's biggest dream has been one's biggest failure. In the 1980s, Richard Horian, a very successful entrepreneur, was obsessed with a dream, his first film, Student Confidential, that would become his biggest failure. The most bizarre part of its true story is the one where numerous people in Horian's orbit, some with very good reputations who did not know how to rationalize his dream and suspected that he had made his money in the drug business, could easily see what was on the horizon and kept supporting his efforts. Student Confidential is a one-of-a-kind time capsule, and I am glad that Severin Films' Blu-ray release presents it with an audio commentary and an exclusive program with Horian. RECOMMENDED to those who find its story fascinating.